Colorful Valparaíso

We are quite close with the people who own our apartment. Their names are Juan Carlos (Juca) and Claudia, and they're married. They don't live in our apartment with us in Santiago, because Claudia is a professor at a university in Valparaíso. Still, they own the apartment and rent it to me and Matt and our roommates, Felipe and Mireia, another couple.

The six of us get along famously, and I really enjoy the time we all get to spend together. This past weekend, Juca and Claudia hosted a party in their home in Valparaíso to celebrate their birthdays and Juca's PhD. (He just finished his program and is now Dr. Juca!)

I had never been to Valparaíso, but I had always wanted to. Valparaíso (sometimes shortened to Valpo) is a Chilean coastal city about an hour and a half from Santiago. Before the creation of the Panama Canal (which we discussed extensively, former Spanish I students of mine), Valparaíso was the shipping port for South America. Having explored it a bit this past weekend, I noticed that it is still a major port city, but it has also become a bohemian sanctuary in Chile. The street art is amazing, and the city is colorful, relaxed, and beautiful. 

Since Matt has to work Saturday mornings, we weren't able to leave for our weekend getaway until Saturday afternoon. It was a lot easier (and a lot cheaper) than I expected.

We took the metro to the Pajaritos metro station, which has a huge bus terminal attached to it. There are buses there that run to all kinds of places. There are lots of coastal towns in Chile (unsurprising, as it is mostly coast), like Viña del Mar, Villa Alemana, Reñaca, and Valparaíso. There are buses at this terminal that leave every 20 minutes for those destinations, so you don't even have to book your tickets in advance, you just show up, buy a bus ticket, and head out!

This is what the bus terminal looked like:

Our roundtrip bus fare, for two tickers, was about $12. Not bad at all!

The bus was nice. It was air conditioned, comfortable, quiet, and fast.

We got there in about an hour and a half.

When we arrived, we took a cab to our hostel. We booked the hostel online the week before, and for a room with a double-bed, it cost us about $24 for the night. Not bad either!

The views around our hostel were amazing. I loved the colors of this area.

Our hostel was pretty cool, too. Outside of our room was this spiral staircase.

Our room was neat! I liked the colors in it, and it had an awesome mural made of bottle caps.

A close-up of the mural.

On the way out of the hostel, I looked up. The building was tall with skylights. 

And outside of our door, the sidewalk was a mosaic.

There is street art everywhere in Valpo.

The city itself is quite crammed. I'm used to streets that are planned less like a grid, but these streets are totally organic in their layout. The buildings are all stacked super close together, and it's climb to get around. To get up to where our friends lived, we took one of many city ferniculars. The fernicular we took cost about $0.35.

Up top we found more art.

There are tons of stairs to take if you are walking around when the fernicular is not open. For part of the hike down, you can take the slide if you choose to.

Exploring and looking out at the city.

We finally made it to our friends' house. We were late to the party, but it was in full swing and we were welcomed with open arms. There were friends, family, and colleagues. Everyone was very friendly and accommodating. Big thanks to Claudia for setting aside a plate of vegan food for me, and for even making vegan food for me in the first place. 

Felipe and Mireia, our roommates.

Claudia starting a toast.

Juca accepting the toast.

The birthday couple over their cake.

Me and Matt at the party.

Claudias' dad, Don Virgilio, took out his guitar to play some folk music.

Then this young couple started to dance the cueca. The cueca is the traditional dance of Chile, which I mentioned in my post about Dieciocho.

Then Juca and Claudia danced, too.

The view from the rooftop terrace was fantasic.

And got even better at night.

Matt was a big fan of Don Virgilio.

Some of us all together.

Me and Mireia.

The view from Juca and Claudia's apartment.

More music...

... and more cueca!

I wish the US had a familial dancing culture, where even small parties result in friendly dancing.

Claudia's parents took to dancing. They danced the cueca and the tango. I know Nanny would love that.

More folks dancing.

On the walk home, we passed some more cool art.

This is a Mapuche Indian. The Mapuche are the people indigenous to Chile.

A steep staircase taking us down.

The next morning we went to the water. I have been itching to see the water since we got to Chile. I love being near the ocean, and it was so important to me that we go see it.

Since Valparaíso is a port city, and not necessarily a tourist city, there weren't any beaches. As much as I wanted to walk on the beach and put my feet in the water, I wasn't able to. But we did get to see cool things at the dock.

Lots of beautiful, colorful boats!

Naval ships!

A statue near the port.

It was a great trip. Although we were there for less than 24 hours, we had a lot of fun, and I enjoyed seeing the city and spending time with our friends.